PPCenter :: devblog

2022/11/16 update : Orders are closed for this sale. Thank you everyone and happy playing !
In the case you arrived too late, another batch of cartridges will be available at the end of this month

2022/11/16更新 : 完売いたしました。今月末に販売を再開する予定♪

Last time I mentioned Gamer's Cartridge in this blog, it was the matter of selling last carts I had at that time and to eventually assemble new carts at the conditions of finding appropriate shells for them.

This was nearly one year ago and after writing this article I went bored of not assembling cartridges.
So I gave a try in "That's It Guys" 3D printing service ! In addition of being able to assemble Gamer's Cartridge, it is also possible to take a look to videos of the shells being printed !

As this sale is about cartridges whose shells are in "outlet" condition, the price is lower than usual.

So if you are on a low budget, this is a good occasion to get a Gamer's Cartridge. And if you want a regular cartridge, then please wait for around two or three weeks until next batch is ready.

As only 4 outlet cartridges are available and that all of them have unique features, it is required to publicly specify which cartridge to purchase by posting a comment on this article.

Also, it is necessary to indicate an email address in the appropriate field when writing the comment so that I can contact you back to continue the ordering of the cartridge.

 - "Blue" : blue shell, USD 61 + shipping

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(Same condition as "Grey #1", hence not taken in picture)
As shown on the picture, the surface of the case as well as letters are poorly printed.
Also, one side of the shell bent during the printing, which caused the cartridge not fitting into its slot.
This was fixed by manually filing the edges of the shell.

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ケースの3D印刷状態がいまいちということで「アウトレット」になっています。全体的な動作を確認していますが、ケースが壊れた場合は保証をいたしかねますのでご了承ください。

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カートリッジを挿入できるように、ヤスリで形を調整しています。

 - 「Grey #2」 : 灰色ケース、USD 61＋送料 = USD 65 (約9,000円)
（「Grey #1」と同様のため、写真を撮っていません）
写真のとおり、ケースの表面や文字等の出来が悪い。
また、ケース片面が歪んでいたためサターンのカートリッジスロットへの挿入が難しかったです。
カートリッジを挿入できるように、ヤスリで形を調整しています。

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カートリッジはGamer's Cartridgeです。詳細については デザエモンDBとMDの窓のご確認お願いします。（ 当ホームページは英語がメインのためお勧めしません^^; ）

USB dev cart status (2022/05/29)

 - Back shell #1 : reserved → sent

 - Black shell #2 : reserved → sent

 - White shell : reserved → sent

Long time no see ! Thank you for still keeping an eye on my blog 

As the title suggests, I have some USB dev cart available for sale.

Quantity is an amazing three cartridges, but hopefully it should be enough to satisfy the Saturn homebrew developers in the need of such kind of item.

These carts use more or less the same design as original version by antime, which is not bad for a project launched in 2012, i.e. one decade ago.

This batch of cartridges was assembled basically in order to get rid of the small stock of electronic components specific to USB dev cart I was still keeping for several years.

Because of that and also the fact I'm now really low on Action Replay shells (I still have a couple of black shells, but I keep them as a souvenir), this is the very last occasion to get an USB dev cart using Action Replay shell and design similar to the original one from 2012.

If after that I really need to assemble new USB dev cart, this will probably use a 3D-printed shell and all discrete logic would be packed into a CPLD, but to be honest, there's no plan to assemble more USB dev carts in a near or middle-term future.

Because of limited quantity, ordering is done by posting a comment with the color (white or black) of the cartridge you want to purchase. Apart from the color, please don't forget to indicate your email in the appropriate field when writing the comment so that I can contact you back to continue the ordering of the cartridge.Rule to be selected for the ordering of a cartridge is "first-come first-served" so if all three cartridges are reserved, then you're free to post a comment anyway (it's free, I don't beg for your personal information, and sometimes I even reply to comments) but unfortunately this won't grant you a ticket to order an USB dev cart.

(If you really need one but arrived too late, then please drop me an email and explain me why you need an USB dev cart)

Pricing for one cartridge is as indicated below :

 - USB dev cart (x1) : USD 65

 - Shipping to USA or Europe : JPY 2400 = USD 18

 - Total : USD 83

Shipping method is EMS, whose availability is "random" : if there isn't Buk missile system between your country and Japan, and also if your country is not closed because of a pandemic then you have a chance to be eligible for parcels being delivered by EMS from Japan ... but don't be too optimistic and please check the EMS availability page in order to be sure that delivery can be done.

If EMS is not available, then B-plan is surface mail which takes around three months to arrive and cost more or less the same as EMS. This expensive and slow shipping method sounds like a fraud but it's a thing (by the past I send cartridges via surface mail, and their owners are now happy to play Saturn games), and this will be an unique occasion for your cartridge to enjoy a cruise in the middle of all the oceans of this planet without any tracking information being updated during that period.

Modern shipping is fast, scanned, tracked and always connected like the average salaryman on a business trip, but on the other hand surface mail is like enjoying a digital detox during a 100 days cruise and making ties with other parcel friends in the meanwhile. The more I write about surface mail the more I am jealous about it and want to retire my work of IT, take a backpack and enjoy to be alive

To add more to the monologue about EMS, it has to be noted that pricing will be "revised" from June 1st, as described in this page, or this one in Japanese.

As a consequence, shipping fee to USA for one cartridge will change from 2400 Yens now to 3900 Yens on next month.

Back in 2015, the cost to send one cartridge was 1200 Yens (roughly USD 10), and then EMS discretely "revised" it to 1500 Yens on June 2016, and then the lowest weight range was "revised" from 300 grams to 500 grams and consequently shipping fee jumped to 2000 Yens.

In 10 years, shipping fee to send one cartridge tripled ... I wished the same performance boost for my salary but I miserably failed. Dear EMS, you won the race and congratulate you for that.

Trivia about EMS price chart : did you know that price changes according to the language the price chart page is displayed ?

I suppose that the folks behind EMS have a special excuse to justify that ... maybe because of the cost it required to translate the page, or more probably because pricing is decided by throwing darts on a calendar, then multiplying all numbers being hit until getting a result higher than previous one.

If this guess is right, then maybe the person in charge of deciding the price to put on Japanese page hit 6, 25 and 26 (6*25*26 = 3900) and that the the person in charge of deciding the price to put on English page hit 5, 25 and 28 (5*25*28 = 3500). Each respective darts were quite close but unfortunately both prices don't match

2021/12/12更新 : ただいま注文処理中のためコメントを停止しています。

Update 2021 Dec. 12th : Orders are closed for this sale. Thank you everyone and happy playing

Good news for everyone looking for a Gamer's Cartridge : 4 more cartridges are available for sale

As the title suggests, this is the last occasion to purchase a Gamer's Cartridge in 2021. So if you want one that's a good timing but if you're hesitating then don't feel obliged to order one.
(There may be few Gamer's Cartridges available for sale in 2022, maybe not. It depends on my free time, if I can find cartridge shells etc)

As in previous flash sale (and in this one too), these cartridges use 3D printed shell whose shape and color may vary.

So in order to order a cartridge, please post a comment with the ID of the cartridge you want to purchase. And please don't forget to indicate your email in the appropriate field when writing the comment so that I can contact you back to continue the ordering of the cartridge.

Rule to be selected for the ordering of a cartridge is "first-come first-served" so if someone wrote a comment with the ID of your favorite cartridge, please select another cartridge or wait for another flash sale ... if any.

List of cartridges available :

 - #03 (b) : white & glow in the dark shell (details)

 - #04 : Transparent front shell (details)

前回に続き秘密の在庫からカートリッジを取り出し販売しています。よろしくお願いいたします！今年の最後のセールスで次回は未定です。


 - #03 (b) : 白色ケース (詳細ページ)
カートリッジはGamer's Cartridgeです。詳細については デザエモンDB と MDの窓 のご確認お願いします。（ 当ホームページは英語がメインのためお勧めしません^^; ）

 - カートリッジ１個：米ドル77 (約8740円)
 - 送料：日本全国一律USD6 (約680円)


ページの下にWrite a commentのところで以下の欄を記入：
　Name: 適当なハンドル名 (本名は記入しないでください)
　E-mail: メールアドレス (ブログに公開されません)
　Site: 空欄
　Comment: カートリッジIDを記載
　　例：「カートリッジ#5を購入したいです」、など
　スパムチェック: サターンを英字で記入
注文のルールは「早い者勝ち」ですので最初にコメントを記入された方から取り引きを行います。1～2日でメールの返信がなかった場合はキャンセル扱いになり次の方に取り引きを切り替えます。

2021/11/30更新 : ただいま注文処理中のためコメントを停止しています。販売再開までしばらくお待ちください。

Update 2021 Nov. 30th : I received more orders than expected ^^; Please wait until current orders are processed so that I can re-open this article.

Good news for everyone looking for a Gamer's Cartridge : 4 of them are available for sale

As in previous flash sale, these cartridges use 3D printed shell whose shape and color may vary.

So in order to order a cartridge, please post a comment with the ID of the cartridge you want to purchase. And please don't forget to indicate your email in the appropriate field when writing the comment so that I can contact you back to continue the ordering of the cartridge.

Rule to be selected for the ordering of a cartridge is "first-come first-served" so if someone wrote a comment with the ID of your favorite cartridge, please select another cartridge or wait for another flash sale ... if any.

List of cartridges available :

 - #1 : transparent shell (details)

 - #8 : Metallic color + Cassini label (details)

前回に続き秘密の在庫からカートリッジを取り出し販売しています。よろしくお願いいたします！


 - #1 : 透明ケース (詳細ページ)
カートリッジはGamer's Cartridgeです。詳細については デザエモンDB と MDの窓 のご確認お願いします。（ 当ホームページは英語がメインのためお勧めしません^^; ）

 - カートリッジ１個：米ドル77 (約8730円)
 - 送料：日本全国一律USD6 (約680円)


ページの下にWrite a commentのところで以下の欄を記入：
　Name: 適当なハンドル名 (本名は記入しないでください)
　E-mail: メールアドレス (ブログに公開されません)
　Site: 空欄
　Comment: カートリッジIDを記載
　　例：「カートリッジ#5を購入したいです」、など
　スパムチェック: サターンを英字で記入
注文のルールは「早い者勝ち」ですので最初にコメントを記入された方から取り引きを行います。1～2日でメールの返信がなかった場合はキャンセル扱いになり次の方に取り引きを切り替えます。

This is with the pride of a job finally being done to announce the public release of Pseudo Saturn Kai v6.483 ! As usual, it can be found in the download section of Pseudo Saturn Kai page.

This release was heavily tested by privateye and in fact it couldn't be released without his extensive help. Thank you very much !!

There are many changes not only concerning ODE support so that every Saturn worshiper may appreciate this release.

So far JHL loader wasn't supporting some Japanese grey Saturns but this is now fixed so that it's finally possible to play Panzer Dragoon Saga with Pseudo Saturn Kai on all known Saturn hardware revisions

This fix doesn't removes the need disc image before burning it. This concerns few games indicated as requiring usage of Pseudo Saturn patcher utility in Pseudo Saturn Kai compatibility page.

Additionally to hardware compatibility improvement, graphical issues are also fixed in some games. This concerns Croc, Slam 'n Jam '96, MechWarrior 2, Need for Speed and Space Hulk so if you were waiting for an update of Pseudo Saturn Kai to play these games, it's (finally !) the right moment to update your cartridge

As indicated in the title, Save Data Manager now supports Satiator ODE.

Supports include the export and import of save data to/from SD card, the access to all known backup devices (including Saturn floppy disk drive), so if you have important saves from your favorite games and don't want them to become lost or corrupted or want to share them with Saturn friends, you don't have any excuse to do it right now

Additionally to Satiator ODE support, many small details were fixed or improved, for example file browsing now uses a better font, comments written in Japanese are now correctly written in save data dump report file etc.

All these fixes and improvements were made in the hope everyone (and not only ODE users) will take benefit from Save Data Manager : if you want to import a pre-recorded save for a given game then SDM may be useful for you, if you want to copy saves recorded on a floppy disk then SDM may be useful for you, and so on

In regard of the stream of the "why Pseudo Saturn Kai doesn't works with Fenrir ?", or "when will Pseudo Saturn Kai will support latest firmware of Fenrir ?" or all the similar questions asked here and there on the internet, that's probably a super awaited feature ! And finally it is here

So, latest firmware (2021/07/02) is supported, and consequently nested folders feature too.

However, display of game cover/screenshot is not supported, so even if it is enabled nothing will be displayed on Pseudo Saturn Kai. This shall be added in a future release, but as other features may take over the priority, ETA regarding this feature is not decided yet.

As I like to improve things whenever it is possible, I caught the occasion of the development of nested folder feature to do cosmetic enhancements to disc image selection menu.Majority of these enhancements won't be noticed : for example slight changes regarding width of some letters, or making menu title not flickering during initial display.

On the other side, Rhea/Phoebe and Fenrir users now may appreciate the addition of font selection on disc image selection menu ! I like default one but as it may not be the taste of everybody, it's now possible to select an alternate font

Development and testing of this version was quite exhausting because of unexpected troubles here and there. For example, Satiator didn't always wanted to provide access to the CD-ROM it is emulating when SD file access is enabled, which was fixed simply by ... directly reading disc image file contents instead of data sectors from emulated CD-ROM

On Fenrir side, reading of save data files whose size is not a multiple of 2 KB isn't working correctly, so the simple workaround for this problem is to add a padding at the end of save data files to make their size being a multiple of 2 KB Remaining problem with this workaround is that save data exported with older version of Fenrir firmware may not be readable now and unfortunately it's impossible to fix that only with Pseudo Saturn Kai.

All of that to say we may take a well deserved rest for a small while. I don't know how situation is exactly on privateye side but personally I would like to recover back sleep time lost during the last four weeks

Next goal for Pseudo Saturn Kai is to support disc image selection for Satiator ODE. Development pace until this milestone as well as additional support for Fenrir ODE depends on everyone supporting Pseudo Saturn Kai on patreon, so don't hesitate to contribute there if you're interested